For Kirtland, the beat goes on, and it’s showing no signs of stopping or slowing down.
The Hornets won their 46th consecutive regular season game Aug. 29 over visiting Lake County foe North, 49-14. All the usual elements were in place: the punishing ground game, the dominant defense, the efficient special teams.Check out a photo gallery from tonight's game here
There were some new faces out on the field for Kirtland, but that didn’t matter a bit because the newcomers fit in seamlessly. As the Hornets continue to stake their claim as one of Ohio’s top football programs, regardless of division, this result provided another example of how playing time for younger reserves in recent seasons has paid off handsomely.
Adam Hess (23 carries, 139 yards, three TDs) brought the thunder, and Jacob Boyd (203 combined rushing and receiving yards and two TDs) provided the lightning for the Hornets’ offense. There was even a brief sighting of the rumored but seldom-used Kirtland aerial attack in this one. Senior quarterback Sam Skiljan completed 5-of-7 passes for 93 yards and a score, and also ran 26 yards to paydirt.
“Definitely our blocking,” Boyd said regarding a key to the victory. “It’s been an issue for us this year, especially with what we lost from last year. They’ve improved day by day, and I’m excited for what we have.”
Kirtland has four newcomers on the offensive line, with guard Dylan Diemer the only returnee. Pounding out 339 yards on the ground at 7.7 yards a carry would seem to indicate the new offensive line had a good showing, but Kirtland coach Tiger LaVerde reserved judgment.
“We gotta watch the film, but I think they did a nice job,” he said. “That’s a big school, and they (North) had some big kids up front. From what I could see, we did a nice job. These kids are great kids, they work very hard, they want to get better. That’s half the battle.”
Hess scored on runs of six and three yards in the first half, and Skiljan connected with Boyd for a 51-yard TD strike and added a 26-yard TD run, as Kirtland went into the break with a 29-0 advantage. It would have been a bigger lead except for three fumbles, but the Hornets’ defense made sure the miscues wouldn’t prove costly. Matt Finkler, Evan Madden, Joey Bates and company held the Rangers to zero first downs in the first half while forcing seven punts.
Hess and Boyd each ran for a third-quarter touchdown as the lead grew to 42-0, but the North offense began to show some spark late in the quarter.
Zane Bunnell (7 of 20, 115 yards) hit Anthony Jones in stride from midfield to get the Rangers on the scoreboard, and after recovering the kickoff at the Kirtland 18, followed up with an 18-yard scoring jaunt by Kenny Uzaveric early in the fourth. Kirtland’s Chris Sakenes ran in from the six yard line for the game’s final tally.
“Our defense did a nice job, we limited them to not many (nine) first downs,” LaVerde said. “We started subbing a little bit in the second half, but that last touchdown they scored was against our No. 1 guys. So hat’s off to them. Coach Bell does a great job, and those kids will get better as the year goes on.”
Kirtland outgained North, 456-148, 8.6 yards per play to 3.4, and had a first-down edge of 19-9. The Rangers’ refusal to quit despite the lopsided first half allowed them to begin to make some things happen offensively in the second, and provided some encouragement to Coach Mike Bell and his staff.
“That was my challenge to the young men at halftime,” Bell said. “At that point, you have a decision to make, it could go two ways. They chose to come out and play hard, and I was encouraged and happy to see that.
“Kirtland’s a very, very good football team — they’re very disciplined. They do very good things. We’re learning to play the game right now. Like I told the coaches, we’ve got to be patient and build on the little things.”
The OHSAA’s new running clock rule came into play in the second half, when Kirtland’s lead climbed above 30. The Hornets managed the clock well and were able to get some playing time in the fourth quarter for their backups, but not quite as much as in recent years.
“I want to get everybody in the game, and the running clock makes it hard,” LaVerde said. “We have 75 guys, and the running clock makes it hard (to get everyone in). I know why they’re doing it, it’s so teams don’t get embarrassed. I understand that. We try to play everybody, and that makes it hard. That’s the only reason I don’t like it, not for anything else but trying to get 75 guys into the game.”